VISIONS OF EVE

by Franky Blank / Images by Nina Zillah Bekink / 06.08.2015

The Frown’s launch of their new album, We Are Not Dead, shot rivers of enigmatic voltage through my veins. Every detail was mesmerising, from the delicately folded origami swans to the crisp white pillows handed to you upon arrival and the all encompassing aura of mystery that hung like a magnetic cross-continental railway line…

Wide-eyed I entered the Kalashnikovv Gallery on that freezing cold Friday night; the stark white canvass laid bare the stage for art, which was to cross multiple mediums (and boundaries) before our unbridled eyes.

I was greeted by Johannesburg’s most #fabulous gender revolutionary, Ali Oop (aka Herman Botha), dressed as a bewitched Marie Curie along with his female gimp of sorts atoned too with white wig.

Looking very severe, she showed me to the complimentary wine. I got goosebumps at the prospect of being in this bizarre space with a band I have followed now for three years.

The performance started with the screening of a short film directed by Robin Nesbitt, scored by her brother and The Frown producer, Klein Baas. I felt the people around me almost merging as we stared up at the screen from our cushions on the floor.

The film ended and that’s when I saw her, through the gallery glass… Eve Rakow, tightly clad in skintight black body suit, signature Doc Martins, and an eerie other worldly veil (concealing/working in conjunction with the most #rude hair-style I’ve ever seen).

I felt like I was made love to by The Frown that night. I felt like I left my fellow audience members behind, and she was singing for me alone. She is awe inspiring like that… her voice and her commitment to character transport you to her world. I felt like a kid, no, I felt like the small figure on the new album cover. Dwarfed in the presence of grandeur.

The new album’s material was amazing, and I cannot wait to unfold my swan, which holds the secret code for downloading the album off Soundcloud (those who attended the launch have exclusive access… for now).

Art is a humbling experience, and individual to each of us who experience it, but I doubt anyone left that intimate launch without being personally captivated by the force of nature that is Eve Rakow on stage.